Method of producing backings for artificial teeth.



I G. HOLTZ. METHOD OF PRODUCING BAGKINGS POR- ARTIFIGIAL TEETH. APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 21 1912' 1,070,132. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY tificial Teeth, of which the PATENT oriucn.

GUSTAV HOLTZ, OF GOULDSIBORO, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF PRODUCING BACKINGS FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH.

Application filed September 21, 1912. SerialNo. 721,651.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUSTAV HoLTz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gouldsbore, in the county of Wayne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Method of Producing Backings for Arspecification. This invention has reference to improvements in producing backings for use on attificial teeth, and may be employed both for regulation and casting purposes.

production of backings in a manner which Wlll enable ary dentist to produce his own backings at a cost far below the price charged tion on the line 11-11 of by manufacturers for backings and at practically the cost of material alone. The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the ollo ng detailed description taken in c iect with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, with the further understanding that while the drawings show means for the practical realization of the invention, it is susceptible of accomplishm'ent through other means, wherefore the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, for the means whereby the invention may be practised can be changed and modified, so long;as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention. In the drawingsz-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a die used in the practice of the invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a blank from which a backing may be formed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the first step in the formation of a backing from a blank. Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a further step. Fig. 5 is a section of the die on the line 55 of Fig. 1, with a and also shown in section. Fig. 6 is a perspective view. of a backing after its removal from the die.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the backing completed, ready for fitting to a tooth facing. Fig. 8 1s a rear elevation of a tooth facing,'to which the backing is to be secured. Fig

9 is a front elevation of a tooth facing w1th the backing applied and ready for trimming. Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-1001: Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a sec- Speeification of Letters Patent.

following is a The object of the present invention is the the blank upon itself Fig. 9. Fig. 12 i may ratemeaau naieis.

l is an end view of a backing prepared for casting purposes.

' Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 2 a blankl, which may be made of any suitable metah'this blank being cut to anissunto suitable sizevso that after proper treatment it will be sufficiently extensive to cover the reverse or back of a Steele facing, so far as the present invention is concerned it -may have a greater extent of u e than with Steele facings.

The blank 1 may metal of suitable gage, and it is then bent upon itself at an intermedite point about a mandrel 2. Since the facings are of standalthough be cut from a sheet of ard form with respect to the .part to which Y the backing is applied, the mandrel should also be of proper sizewith relation to the gage of the metal sheet or blank 1. Ordinarily the sheet 1 will beof No. 32 B. & S. gage, although it may, under some circumstances, be-as thick as No. 30 and as thin as ,No. 36. The mandrel 2 may conveniently be a BB pin or a l/Gd inch wire. The size of the mandrel, however, will vary with the gage of the blank, being of smaller diameter for the thicker gage and larger diameter for the thinner gage, but the BB pin or wire of the size mentioned answers for 32 gage plate.

The blank is sufficiently thin to be confingers of the operator. The bending of midway of its length in one direction produces what is shown in Fig. 3,and the two halves of the blank, which by the fingers 0f the operator have been brought into edge contact, are now brought into face contact from the mandrel outwardly by means of any suitable tool, such as flat nose pliers, producing the form illustrated in Fig. i. The pin-or mandrel 2 may now be withdrawn or it may remain in PEICG and in such case the ends should be cut 0 There is also provided'a block or die 3, shown in Figs. 1 and 5, which block is for convenience of manipulation, somewhat elongated in one direction, and at one end the block is provided with a longitudinal slot 4, and a longitudinal passage 5 into which the slot opens. The passage 5 is of a diameter to receive that portion of the blank folded about the mandrel and which be described as an elongated eye or veniently bent about the mandrel by the beyon d the which the'facing may be removed ollset tubular rib 6, while the width of the slot l issuliicicnt to snugly. receive the wings or llaugc portions of the folded blank projecting froin the eye or rib, which parts are individually designated by the reference numeral 7. The slotwl with the passage constitutes in effect an undercut slot extending througl'i the die and opening through one face thereof, with which slot the eye or rib is adapted to interlock.

The flanges or wings 7 are first spread apart by the fingers after the folded blank has been introduced into passage 5 of the die with the wings 7 projecting through the slot i, and then by means of a small mallet these wings are forced down upon the face of the die on opposite sides of the slot t until they extend in opposite directions with relation to the other. The finished backing comprises the elongated eye or rib 6, the oppositely, extended wings 7-7, and a short web 8 between the eye or rib 6 and the wings 77'corresponding to the depth of the slot 4. The wings ale shown in the artially flattened position in Fig. 5, and in the fully flattened position in Fig. 6. For reasons which will hereafter appear, the eye 6 and the correspondin web 8 are cut away for about one-third of their length so that the wings 7 in the direction of the fold I of the blank are about one-third longer than the rye (3 and web ,8, which latter extend from one end of the blank toward the other for about two-thirds of the length of the blank in the direction of the fold. The com pletecl backing ready for use is shown in Fig. 7.

in Figs. 8 to 11, a Steele facing 9 is i.n dicated, and this facingwhioh is made to resemblea human tooth, .has a Hat rear face in which is produced an undercutlongitudinal slot 10 closed near one end of the facing and open near the other, which facing is at the open end of the slot appropriatel y beveled as, shown at 11. mg may now be applied to the facing with the eye or rib 6 entering the slot 10 until that end of the eye which had been shortened by removing a portion of its length abuts against the closed end of the slot, while those portions of the wings 7-7 extending eye 6 reach to that end of the facing which constitutes the active end thereof when in the mouth of the user. The backing may now be trimmed into conformity with the outline of the facing, after from the backing and the latter may be soldered to the foundation of the bridge work, and the end openings of the eye 6 and the joints in the web 8 and junction points of the wings 7 are also soldered. -The mandrel or pin 2 need not be removed, but may simply be cut oil so as to act as a filler for the eye (3 and the solder will then seal any parts which llhe back locked therewith, V wings of the blank are then in turn applied to the appropriate backings, and upon the setting of the cement are firmly united in place, being stronglv held a ainst anv dislod in forces b the 2D .1 b c: 7

anchor action of the eye and web connection with the flanges 7, which in turn are firmly soldered to the bridge foundation.

The backing so far described is particularly adapted to what is known as rcgula tion bridge work. For casting purposes, the flanges 7 are not bent to a single plane as in Fig. 7, but are bent into angular rclalion, one with the other, of about ninety degrees so that they have an angular rcla tion to the web 8 of about forty-livedegrees. These lianges niay be cut off to a length of about one-cighth of an inch from the Web, or the original blank 1 may be of a suitable size so that the anchoring flanges indicated at 7 in Fig. 12 will be initially formed with out the necessity of the removal of any of the metal.

By this method of foru'iiug backing plates. the dentist is enabled to i'iianufacture these plates with no other implements or material than a suitable supply of sheet metal of appropriate kind, adic and. a supply of pins 2, the latter of which may be boughtin the open market, although if pre erred a supply of wire of'appropriate size may be provided instead of the pins, but the latter a have the advantage ofextreme cheapness and uniform size. The die is important in that it provides a means for the accurate formation of the backing with the central eye or anchor adapted to 10 of the facing 9.

In actual practice the dentist is enabled by making the backings himself to save fully sixty per cent. of the cost of backings now obtainable on the market, so that the cost of the backings is substantiallythat of the material employed, while the original cost of the die is small and the time consumed in the formation of the backings is practically the undercut groove negligible, since a large supply of these backings may be made in but a few minutes.

hat is claimed is 1. The method of producing metal backings for artificial teeth witha die, which consists in providing a shect metal blankof 1 apprm'iriate gage, folding said blank intermediately about a mandrel of appropriate diameter, forming the fold into an elongated anchor and providing two wings on each side of the anchor, i'i'iounting the folded blank upon a die with the anchor interand then spreading out the projecting from the die.

2. The method of prod'ucingmetal back lugs for artificial teeth with a die, which consists in providing a metal blank of sheet form of appropriate size and gage, bending the blank intermediately upon itself about a mandrel of appropriate size, forcing the portions of the blank projecting from the mandrel into face contact to produce an elongated anchor embracing the mandrel,

then placing the anchor portion of the folded blank in the die, and then bending apart the folded portion of the blank at a distance from the anchor while held in the die to form a web connecting the anchor porltlOIl of the blank with'the bent-apart or wing portions.

tion of the folded blank into a slot of the die, and then bending apart the folded portions of the blank at a distance from the anchor while held in the die to form a web connecting the anchor portion of the blank with the. bent-apart portions, then hammering down upon the die'the said bent-apart portions until they are brought into one plane at substantially right angles to the web connecting them with the anchor.

4. The method of producing backlngs for dental bridge work. with a die, consisting inproviding'a blank in sheet form, bending said blank intermediately upon itself about a mandrel with that portion embracing the mandrel forn'ied into an elongated anchor,

introducing the anchor portion of the folded blank into a slot of-the die. then spreading apart those portions of the folded blank projecting from the anchor while in the die at a distance from said anchor to produce a web immediately adjacent to said anchor and two wings on each side thereof, then hammering down upon the die the two wings until theyare in one plane at substantially right angles to the web, then removing the blank from the die, and then cutting off a portion of the anchor and web, whereby the backing in its finished form has the anchor of less length than the backing in the direction of the length of the intermediate fold.

5. The method of producing backings for dental bridge work, which consists in providing a die with an undercut slot therethrough opening through one face thereof, 7

then providing a sheet metal blank of appropriate size and gage, then folding said blank intermediately about a iandrel of appropriate diameter for for ng the portions of the blank projecting from the mandrel int-o face contact to produce an elongated anchor, then placing the anchor portion of the blank into the slot of the die leaving the restof the blank projecting therefrom, then bending apart the folded portion of the blank. at a distance from the anchor while held in the die so as to form a pair of wings and a web connecting the wings .and anchor, then hammering down the wings fiat upon the face of the die on each side of the slot, and finally removing the blank from the die.

In. testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signa- ,ture in the presence of two Witnesses.

GUSTAV HOLTZ.

Witnesses:

LUTHER GARLIN, F. D. LEWlS. 

